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Many species of fish use the technique of bioluminescence, such as the spot winged comb jelly (left) and deepsea dragonfish (right)

Fans of Finding Nemo will remember the scene where the lead character finds a 'light', only for him to realise it is attached a predatory fish. New research has now suggested that bioluminescence may be more widespread among marine fishes than previously thought

The deep sea angler fish lights up its whole body

'You have this whole habitat where everything that's not living at the top or bottom of the ocean or along the edges, nearly every vertebrate living in the open water, around 80 per cent of those fish species are bioluminescent.

'So this tells us bioluminescence is almost a requirement for fishes to be successful.'

Unlike on land, in the ocean there are no physical barriers separating groups of deep-sea fish.